Dale Galvin, Rare’s Chief Operating Officer, blogs about his trip to Fiji where he joined a hard-working Rare team to host a social marketing workshop for potential Pride campaign partners in the region. Follow Dale’s adventures as he and his team witness local conservation efforts to protect marine species, introduce regional conservation experts to Rare’s methodology and share how the Pride campaign model can support lasting conservation impact in their communities.
I had been feeling great this whole trip; those who know me at Rare know I am a magnet for various tropical ailments but so far so good. Well that all ended when I woke up on Saturday morning, preparing to go see the Votua community with the Rare staff and some other partners as well. Suffice is to say that I thought I had the swine flu, and couldn’t swallow even a spoonful of yogurt. Meanwhile, the first step to going to see the community was to put on the appropriate attire – a bula shirt and a sulu (skirt-like thingy). The night before, after our workshop and before the shops closed (the shops conveniently close a few minutes before everyone gets off work), we rushed out to buy this local clothing and the only store still open sold only the fanciest versions of bulas and sulus, so that later others remarked that we all looked like we were “going to church.”
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Adam, Dale, and Sean in traditional bulas and sulus.
On arrival to the village, we presented our gift of kava root (looks like a bundle of sticks) to the village representatives, and sat down on a straw mat for the kava ceremony. The ceremony consisted of a number of rhythmic chants and blessings, handing the kava from one person to the next. In return for the kava, the community members welcomed us to their village, and began preparing the kava. Doing that entails putting the ground kava into a porous bag, and dumping water into it so that it drains out through the bottom of the bag. Then the preparer mashes the bag, wringing out the kava-infused water with their bare hands into a bowl called a tanoa. As the highest ranking Rare “Chief” in attendance, I had to drink often from the bowl. I will share only that from what I was told the next day in that it had been a very “memorable experience”. I trust them.
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Serving kava at the ceremony.
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Dale holding the kava in a coconut shell bowl. Looks good!
A little more about the Votua community: This community is a good but also unusual example of other communities in Fiji. It is a Fijian Locally-Managed Marine Area (LMMA) success story. By working with the Fijian arm of LMMA (FLMMA, pronounced “flamma”), they created a managed marine area within their community-owned fishing area. Within that, they created a tabu (pronounced “tambu”) area which is a relatively permanent No-Take-Zone. I say “relatively” because they are sometimes opened to large one-off fishing extravaganzas when there is for example, a financial need or a wedding.
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Votua rugby player.
All the community members agree that the tabu area has been successful, and they have some monitoring data to back that up, even though the area is close to shore and quite small in global terms (300 x 800 meters). Potentially because of this success and willingness to participate in new projects, they have been recipients of a lot of international aid, resulting in things like a fairly substantial grey and black water recycling system, homestay training for hosting visiting students and tourists, and coral plantings in the tabu area.
All and all, despite my tropical flu and a kava overdose, it was a great day. The community is exemplary in their willingness to protect their marine resources, and serves as a great example for our campaign to market to other communities who may be ready to adopt similar programs.
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Coral plantings.
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The Giant clam, one of several species of clam under threat in Fiji and other Pacific islands.
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Votua Locally Managed Marine Protected Area.
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Local conservation efforts have attracted additional international aid opportunities such as this black water recycling system (aka sewage treatment plant).
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